We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Blaine County Sheriff, John Colby will be sworn in for a second term later in this month and in doing so looks forward to advancing the projects and ideas that his Department had started in his first term as Sheriff, "I look forward to building those programs and making them serve the community as best as possible," said Colby.
Sheriff Colby has a number of projects he wants to get going in his second term, "We are looking at grants that could help obtain a school resource officer to assist with education in school. To familiarize the students with law enforcement and our operations. We want to give them an opportunity to get to know the department on a more personal level as well as enhance the safety programs already in place at our local schools." Colby adds, "That would include schools within the county school system and education programs will include alcohol, drug effects, dealing with dependent family members and the mental health issues that are associated with them."
Looking to improving the overall function of the department Colby has some lofty goals, "One of the things I'm hoping to have in the coming years is a Detective slot. This would help to streamline things and to allow us to be more affective in court proceedings and help with more specialized training in our larger more detailed investigations. That will be a considerable undertaking, but I'm hopeful to be able to accomplish that this term."
The Blaine County Sheriff's Department has started a new program to help serve community members in crisis, "We just started a Victims Advocates slot, a Grant Funded position that is stationed out of Glasgow. The Victims Advocate will work with two or three persons and will cover an area from the North Dakota boarder to Blaine County. This position will assist victims with court proceeding, getting necessary help and treatment as well as interviewing child witnesses for forensic interviewing. The primary spot for them is dealing with Domestic Violence and they will be available to victims of Domestic Violence 24 hours a day."
Sheriff Colby wants to remind people that he is willing to listen to what you have to say, "Anytime anyone has any questions, concerns or complaints, they can call me or stop in and visit with myself or Under Sheriff Adair, file a complaint, ask questions or just address any issues, questions or concerns they may have. My door will always be open to talk with our community members."
Following the election in November Colby headed east for some training, "I just returned from the FBI Academy in Quantico Virginia, where I went through a five day leadership course specifically designed for Sheriffs. There were Sheriffs from all over the country in attendance and the conference was meant to provide unified training to Law Enforcement. The conference served primarily leadership course to help the Sheriff's office run more efficiently."
Colby considered this training to be at the highest level he has experienced, "I was very impressed by the training and shocked to see that no matter if you're in Blaine County, Montana or in New Orleans, Louisiana, every Sheriff deals with the same types of issues. Inter department issues, criminal complaints, departmental complaints, budgets, workplace injuries. Mainly in organizational issues, we don't deal with the level of violent crime, homicides and such, but we don't have the number of people either or officers on the job." Colby added, "Departments basically face the same obstacles when trying to be efficient in providing the community with a police presence. It showed me some of my weak spots and areas that maybe I can look at myself and improve on how I handle those situations. We truly have a great department that really cares about the community, and I want to continue to encourage that and be more helpful in making that happen. We can all get better, do better and that's what I expect my department to do, and I have no doubt they will."
Colby concluded by stating, "We will be instituting changes at the Blaine County Sheriff's Office that should help the entire community. After a week hearing issues going on in other Sheriff's Offices across the United States, I can honestly say that I would not change places with any of them. I am truly blessed to be in this community and to have been re-elected as the Blaine County Sheriff and I look forward to serving the community honorably for the next four years."
